Barcelona lining up four exits in the winter

With the January transfer window almost upon us, plans are starting to take shape at Barcelona as they prepare for a hugely important period.

The team is in need of reinforcements in multiple positions, but a lack of transfer funds and wiggle-room on the wage bill will make things hard for the Blaugrana to bring in new faces in the winter.

So, there will likely be exits from the club in order to make room for arrivals next month. Alex Collado has already agreed to join Granada on loan for the rest of the season, although, his departure does not have an impact on the finances, given that he was not registered in the summer.

With Sergio Aguero announcing his retirement under the most unfortunate of circumstances, Barça have freed up room on the wage bill. However, Javi Miguel of Diario AS has now claimed that the club need to get at least two more players off the books in the mid-season trading period.

And, the journalist goes on to add that the four players that the Catalan giants have made available for transfers are Luuk de Jong, Samuel Umtiti, Philippe Coutinho and Sergino Dest.

De Jong has just not worked out since arriving from Sevilla on loan in the summer and is expected to be moved on next month. There have been reports of a loan exchange with Inter Milan for Alexis Sanchez, while Fenerbahce are also interested in signing the Dutchman.

As for Umtiti and Coutinho, they are not favoured by the management and are two of the highest earners in the squad, which makes getting rid of them important for Barça. However, finding suitors for the pair could prove to be an issue, like it did in the summer as well.

With Dest, the USMNT star has failed to perform at the expected levels since arriving last year and it has been claimed that Xavi has not been convinced by the 21-year-old. With Dani Alves now set to be eligible for selection as well, the club are ready to sanction an exit for the ex-Ajax starlet.

The update from Javi Miguel insists that Barcelona are not contemplating any other exits in January, although with the market being open, they could study offers for some other players, should anything substantial come along.